Pressed Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the brisket
Cut the brisket from the thick part, ensuring it is not too fatty.
Bone the brisket.
Soak the brisket in cold water for 12 hours.
Remove the brisket from the water.
Cure
Place the brisket in a pan or deep dish with saltpetre, juniper berries, and coarse sea salt.
Let it sit for two nights.
Boil 3 gallons of water, 6 lbs of salt, 1 lb of moist sugar, and 1 lb of juniper berries for 15 minutes to prepare the pickle.
After two nights, place the brisket in the pickle for 10 days.
Cook
After pickling, boil the brisket for 4 hours.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Brisket
- Forms the meat itself; its fat and lean content shape the final texture and juiciness.
- Saltpetre
- Sets the characteristic pink colour of cured meat and adds a distinct cured flavour.
- Salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat, slowing spoilage during curing.
- Moist sugar
- Balances the saltiness and softens the harshness of the cure.
- Juniper berries
- Adds a resinous, aromatic flavour to the cure and pickle.
The step that matters
Keeping the brisket fully submerged in the pickle for the full 10 days. Meat that is not fully covered by brine cures unevenly and can spoil at exposed surfaces. Even salt penetration over time is what preserves the meat safely.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.